Police Suspect Missing Mom Lilly Aramburo May Have Been Killed

More than three years after she went missing, Miami-Dade Police investigators believe Lilly Aramburo was a victim of foul play. At least, that's what an updated missing persons flyer seems to indicate. New Times wrote a cover story about the young single mother's June 1, 2007 disappearance from the east Kendall apartment she shared with her then-boyfriend Christian Pacheco.

In December, Aramburo's case was transferred from missing persons to

homicide. And the department has assigned the case to Ray Hoadley, a

veteran homicide detective who solved the cold case murder of an

18-year-old Homestead girl killed in 1993. The development has given

hope to Aramburo's closest relatives and friends.

An ongoing social media campaign started by Aramburo's friend and Miami-based Internet marketing consultant Janet Forte generated national media coverage about the case, but has turned up few leads into what happened to the 24-year-old woman. Forte and Aramburo's mother, Lucely Zalvidar, had grown frustrated with the police investigation, at times suggesting detectives were indifferent to finding Lilly because of her history of running away from home and drug addiction. A Miami-Dade police spokesman declined comment because of the open investigation.

"I feel very confident with the new detective on the case," Forte says. "I believe in karma and know that whoever was involved in Lilly's disappearance will ultimately face the consequences of their actions."

Hoadley, a 38 year veteran, was the lead investigator in the cold case of Trinity Robinson. In 2006 Hoadley arrested her boyfriend Christopher Phillips for her murder despite not finding the body. This past September, a jury convicted Phillips based on circumstantial evidence and witness testimony Hoadley gathered. The 38-year-old, who was sentenced to life in prison, is only the second person in Miami-Dade history to be convicted of murder without a victim's body.